The body was found with 65 injuries which were the result of a struggle before her death.

Amongst others, the appellant pleaded that his family will suffer hardships as they rely on him financially. He also submitted that and as a result of the his incarceration it is most unlikely that his family’s circumstances will ever permit them to travel to Brunei Darussalam to visit him.

Justice Barry Mortimer, sitting with Justices Burrell and Leonard, stated in his judgement that financial hardship caused to the family of a person sent to prison is not a factor to which a court can give much, if any, weight but the fact that the appellant is to serve his sentence in a foreign country in circumstances
where, unlike a local prisoner, he has no realistic prospect of visits from his wife and young children, is a matter that ought to be taken into consideration by way of mitigation.

“That might not be so where a professional criminal came to Brunei from abroad for the purpose of committing crime here,” decided Justice Mortimer.